President Obama could be seen drinking a Miller Lite “one minute,“ and a ”cold bottle of Bud” the next during last week’s campaign stops, according to ABC, in an effort to “appeal to the loyalties of a diverse working-class crowd.”

Describing the scene as a “hallmark of the Obama message machine,” ABC continues:

With meticulous attention to detail, Team Obama has generated a bevy of positive local media headlines on its swing through Ohio and Pennsylvania, two must-win states. His team has also lodged a fresh round of negative attacks on vacationing rival Mitt Romney, who has struggled to respond.

[…]

Before manicured patriotic backdrops in town parks and diners, Obama presented a soft and personal side, highlighting stories about his family and upbringing, a new emphasis in his stump aimed at reconnecting with the blue-collar base.

The strategy is quite a change from what Thomas Edsall described in a November article for the New York Times. He wrote at the time that “…preparations by Democratic operatives for the 2012 election make it clear for the first time that the party will explicitly abandon the white working class.”